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Friday, November 16, 2012

Indie Book of the Week and Guest Post Excerpt: Twelve Months by Steven Manchester

This weeks Indie Book of the Week is a very special read. One that won't soon be forgotten, Twelve Months by Steven Manchester!

Synopsis:

Don DiMarco has a very good life – a family he loves, a comfortable lifestyle, passions and interests that keep him amused. He also thought he had time, but that turned out not to be the case. Faced with news that might have immediately felled most, Don now wonders if he has time enough. Time enough to show his wife the romance he didn’t always lavish on her. Time enough to live out his most ambitious fantasies. Time enough to close the circle on some of his most aching unresolved relationships. Summoning an inner strength he barely realized he possessed, Don sets off to prove that twelve months is time enough to live a life in full.

About The Author:

Steven Manchester is the published author of the national best seller, Twelve Months, as well as Pressed Pennies, The Unexpected Storm: The Gulf War Legacy, Jacob Evans, and several books under the pseudonym, Steven Herberts. His work has appeared on NBC's Today Show, CBS's The Early Show, CNN’s American Morning and BET’s Nightly News. Recently, three of Steven's short stories were selected "101 Best" for Chicken Soup for the Soul series. When not spending time with his beautiful wife, Paula, or his four children, this Massachusetts author is promoting his works or writing. Visit:www.StevenManchester.com

My Thoughts and Review:

This was a beautifully rich tale of not only death but of
life. To living each day to its fullest, not having regrets, reliving those
memories and people that made life so much fun and to knowing that even though
you have to say goodbye, it doesn't have to be the end, sometimes it can be a
beginning too.

Manchester wrote
an emotional read about one man’s journey through the last year of his life and
asked all the hard questions along the way. What would you do if you only had
twelve months left to live? Where would you go? What would you see and who
would you spend it with? Would you make the most of the time you had left?

Don spends the next months doing those things he always
wanted to do with the people he cares about the most.

The first half of the story was a little slow as Don was
diagnosed with cancer and started to reminisce about his childhood and how,
even then, death played a role in his life. He contemplated his life like I
think all of us would after learning that we only had twelve months to live. And
while it did make the story a little slow going it never was dull. In fact
there were even some humorous parts thrown in.

This is definitely one of those stories that you will need a
box of tissues handy by the end. Don spends a lot of his time with his family,
but especially with his two grandkids. There is a line in the story that just
really got to me and I thought I needed to share it in this review.

As Don is talking to his grandkids he pulls a treasure box
down off a shelf and looks at his two grandbabies and says, “Every man finds a
treasure in his life and you two are mine.”

If you want an endearing, heart wrenching, emotional read
that will capture your heart and really make you think about each day that we
have here, each person we share it with and about the things that really matter
in life, this is one story you do not want to pass up.

Though there were empty tables up front, Vic escorted Bella
and me to a darkened back room where no one else was seated. The table sat in
the center of the room and was very nicely decorated. I could tell by Bella's
face that it seemed peculiar to her. As we took our seats, Vic lit a candle.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.

Bella started to question it, but I
shrugged it off. “There must have been reservations for the other tables up
front?” I suggested.

She nodded, and then noticed a man
seated on a stool a few tables over. He was holding a guitar and squinting at
some sheet music.

He looked over and smiled. “I hope
you guys don’t mind, but I’m trying out tonight for a weekend gig at this
place.”

“Not a problem,” I added, acting as
though I’d never spoken to the man. And through an acoustic set of love
ballads, Gary was just as
convincing.

Bella had no idea but the order had
already been carefully spelled out – drinks first, Pinot Grigio for her; beer
for me, and the itinerary would begin. Vic approached with both drinks on a
small round tray. “Appetizers tonight?” he asked.

I smiled. “Why don’t we start with
an order of little necks in garlic and oil?”

Vic nodded once and headed for the
kitchen, while Gary swooned, “You
say it best when you say nothing at all…”

Bella leaned into my ear and
whispered, “How did he know I wanted white wine?”

I was into my second shrug when Vic
returned to the table with a gorgeous arrangement of long stem red roses.
Without a word, he placed them in front of Bella and rotated the vase until the
card faced her. “Your appetizer should be out in a few minutes,” he said and
strutted away again.

Gary
was already on his second number when Bella plucked the card from the
arrangement. It read: “Bella, I love you, forever – Don.” She looked up to find
the entire restaurant staring at us.

“And always will,” I whispered when
she leaned over and kissed me.

After the steaming appetizer and
another round of drinks, Vic placed a silver platter before my glowing wife. It
held a scrolled sheet of parchment secured by red ribbon. She looked up at him,
but he never let on. She glanced over at me. “What…”

“Open it,” I said, while Gary
strummed away in the background.

She did. It was the one thing she'd
always wanted from me, but had never gotten – until now.

Moments of Destiny

From the moment I met you,

I knew there was a fire between us

that even hard, driving rain could never put out.

From the moment we spoke,

I knew I’d spent my entire life

in search of your deep and passionate love.

From the moment we kissed,

I knew my heart was no longer mine

and I’d finally found my future.

From the moment we laughed,

I knew there would never be enough time

to share all the things I needed to share with you.

From the moment we danced,

I knew, at last, what the phrase ‘better half’ meant

and surrendered to your gentle touch.

From the moment we walked hand-in-hand,

I knew I’d discovered my partner

and that my dreams were suddenly within reach.

From the moment we lay together,

I knew I’d made it to heaven

and thanked God for blessing me with you.

From the moment you agreed to be my wife,

I knew my journey was now worth taking,

through days of sunshine –

or nights of hard, driving rain.

As her watering eyes read the final
verse, the musician stopped playing, the restaurant went silent and I went down
to one knee. I opened the ring box. “Isabella,” I said, “I want to spend the
rest of my life with you. Will you be my wife…again?”

She never hesitated and dove into
my arms. For a while, we just hugged.

“I love you so much,” she cried
into my shoulder.

“I know,” I said. “But…”

She pushed away from me and looked
into my eyes. “But what?”

“But I need your answer?” I said,
grinning.

“Yes…the answer is YES!” she gasped
and jumped back into my arms.

The crowd shared a collective sigh,
and everyone was clapping when Bella and I returned to reality. It took a few
moments before each table returned to its own conversation and half-eaten
meals.

Chuckling, I introduced my
beautiful wife to Gary, the musician. As they shook hands, Gary
admitted, “I was so nervous.”

I bought the man a beer when Vic
delivered two previously ordered dinners to our table. Though Bella couldn’t
touch hers, I ate and listened to Gary
fill the room with a soothing melody. By the time the chocolate covered
strawberries arrived for dessert, Bella was emotionally spent. She grabbed me
once more for a kiss. “This has been the perfect night,” she whispered.

“And for all these years…you’ve
been the perfect wife, my dear.”

As we left the restaurant, another
round of applause carried us to the front door. I opened it for my new fiancé –
only to discover a white stretch limousine idling at the curb. She quickly turned
to me. “It’s not over?”

I shook my head. “It’ll never be
over for us.” As we made our way to the limo, waves of nausea threatened to
drown me. This is Bella’s perfect night,
I told myself, our perfect night.
Whatever you do…do not throw up now!

9 comments:

This sounds like one that would be a good reminder for many. Live life to the fullest and don't let it go by without enjoying it. It seems like we all get swept in to our daily routine and just barely managing to pay the bills, buy groceries etc. I would that we could sometimes just go on a last minute vacation or something. If I had 12 months left I'm sure I would no longer let myself worry about money. I would want to see and experience everything! And I still have nearly the whole world to explore!

That song Live Like You're Dying by Tim McGraw popped in my head while read the blurb. Then I got a little misty-eyed from the post! Gah, don't do that to me! :D Seriously, this is obviously a very emotional book, and it sounds really good.

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I am a full time mom and avid reader. When I am not playing dress up or chasing down lost toys and wrestling with the never ending pile of laundry, I read. Actually, I read whenever I get the chance. I love many different genres and would have a hard time choosing just one favorite book. And yes I really am obsessed with books, in fact I might be a book hoarder. Thankfully I have a Kindle and no one is the wiser to my vastly growing collection of books.